Traces
by booknerd1998
Summary: Quinn's dad is back with a less than pleasant greeting for his daughter.  He still hasn't forgiven her for getting pregnant, and his ways for getting back at her are destroying her.  Rated T for abuse but not very graphic.
1. Chapter 1

Quinn woke up on the first day of school. This was the first time she was sure that she was not going to rule the school and possibly be at the bottom of the food chain.

She got out of bed and looked in the mirror. Ever since her dad had come to live with her when her mom took a job in London, she had seen the same thing and it wasn't the beautiful girl she'd known to love. It was a monster, with bruises all over her skin and cuts across her stomach. _Well_, she thought to herself, _I'm sure some extra makeup and I won't be able to see the black eye. _

She walked downstairs quietly to make sure she didn't wake her dad and snuck into the kitchen. She grabbed a banana and headed stealthily out the door. _Thank God_ she thought. She started her car and headed off to school with makeup covering the bruises.

When she got out of her car she saw Finn and Berry Walking together, holding hands. There were tears in her eyes before she had time to look away.

"Hey, Quinn!" someone called. Quinn looked up and saw Mercedes, Santana, and Brittany walking towards her.

"Where were you all summer? I didn't hear anything from or about you!" Mercedes exclaimed.

"I was in Mexico. It was kind of sudden. My Mom got a short-term job offer in London, so my dad came to stay with me. He wanted us to reconnect so we went to Mexico." Well, there was the lie she would have to tell everyone. She said it once and she'll have to say it every time anybody asked her that question. _It wasn't a complete lie, _she told herself, _mom _did_ get a short-term job offer._

All in all the day didn't go so bad. The makeup stayed on well, so nobody could tell she was bruised. Her final class ended and she was about to go to her car when she remembered glee club. She turned around and headed toward the choir room. She sat down at the end of the top row next to Kurt.

"How was your summer, Quinn?" Quinn jumped and turned to face Kurt.

"It was great. I went to Mexico!" she lied

"That sounds so fun!" Kurt said. He quietly added "I hear your dad's back. Are you okay with that?"

"Yeah." I said quickly. Mr. Schuester had just walked in the room and greeted us with a how-was-your-summer rehearsed speech. Thankfully, he didn't have any of us answer.

"Sorrow," He announced to the class. "We always sing happy, upbeat music, but we don't want to blind ourselves to other styles of music. I'm giving you the first month of school to work on this. I want you to perform a song that shows a sorrow you faced in your life." With that, the day was finished and I could go home.


	2. Chapter 2

When Quinn got out of her car she headed stealthily through the door and halfway up the stairs when she made the mistake a stepping on the squeaky step, alerting her father that she was home.

"Quinn!" he yelled.

"Yeah, dad?" she replied warily.

"Dinner will be ready soon. I'll call you down when it is." As he walked away, Quinn felt relieved. She was afraid he might lash out at her again, but she couldn't tell what might happen at dinner. Whenever she sat down and ate with him she remembered the pain from the first dinner they ate when he stabbed her leg with a fork. She new she could never challenge him, he was too strong.

Fifteen minutes later, dinner was ready. She sat down and quietly started to eat her chicken.

"How was school today?" he asked.

"Fine." She answered nervously; simple questions like this always seemed to turn out badly.

"Did you see that boy that got you pregnant, Finn?" there it was the fatal question. He would be able to tell she was lying if she said no, or know that there was more to the story of her pregnancy if she said yes. She had no choice but to tell him the truth and hope for the best.

"Actually, it wasn't Finn's baby. It was Noah Puckerman's." she answered carefully. His face was unreadable. He might explode, or he might just not speak for the rest of dinner, it was impossible to tell.

"So you were sleeping around, weren't you? You slut! I can't believe I could ever be this disappointed in you!" he spat.

"N-no, dad, it wasn't like th-that I-I w-was drunk-" she spluttered. She new she shouldn't have said the moment it left her lips and now she would have to face the consequences. Her father stood up and hit her across the face. She stood up and tried to leave the room, but he grabbed her and threw her against the wall.

"How can you have disgraced me like this? Why would you do this to me?" he yelled as the tears flowed down her face both from being yelled at and the pain she was in.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to I'm so sorry-" she uttered apologies at her father and they seemed to bounce right off him. H banged her against the wall and kept telling her what a slut she was.

He finally let go of her and she ran to her bathroom. There were marks where he hit that would turn into bruises. Her mascara ran down her face and her makeup and been rubbed off in the violence so she could see every mark. She took off the cardigan she had been wearing over her dress and looked at the scars and bruises on her arms. The tights she was wearing covered the marks on her legs.

She didn't want to look at the scars on her stomach where her father had expressed the most rage, claiming that was where the child was viewed by the world announcing how horrible she was so she needed to be punished. The tears silently flowed down her cheeks as she saw what a mess she had become.


	3. Chapter 3

As Quinn walked towards the school the next day, she tried to hide her limp. Nobody paid attention to her as she walked through the doors and something about that bothered her.

Now that she was nothing special, she was like a miniscule spot on the radar. She meant nothing, nobody cared about her. What hurt her the most was that she was alone. In the glee club, everyone had someone. Rachel had Finn, Brittany and Artie got back together after Nationals, Mercedes and Sam pretended they weren't dating, but they were obviously totally into each other, Tina had Mike, Kurt had Blaine, Santana kind of had Karofsky, and Puck had Lauren. Why was she so alone?

As the day went by, she did the same thing in every class. She sat in the back of the room and said nothing to anyone. It worked well all through the day, and for once she felt she actually might've learned something in school.

When she walked through the choir room doors, she saw Rachel setting up a microphone. _Oh, great. _She thought. _Man-Hands is doing her usual overexcited, overemotional performance. _She couldn't wait to find out what she'd be singing about.

"This song represents sorrow because it's how I felt every time Finn looked at Quinn with a loving look on his face." She said. Fantastic, a rehearsed speech.

_Hands touch, eyes meet_

_Sudden silence, sudden heat_

_Hearts leap in a giddy whirl_

_He could be that boy, but I'm not that girl_

_Don't dream too far_

_Don't lose sight of who you are_

_Don't remember that rush of joy_

_He could be that boy, I'm not that girl_

_Every so often we long to steal_

_To the land of what-might-have-been_

_But that doesn't soften the ache we feel_

_When reality sets back in_

_Blithe smile, lithe limb_

_She who's winsome_

_She wins him_

_Gold hair with a gentle curl_

_That's the girls he chose, and heaven knows_

_I'm not that girl_

_Don't wish, don't start_

_Wishing only wounds the heart_

_I wasn't born for the rose and the pearl_

_There's a girl I know_

_He loves her so_

_I'm not that girl_

During the entire song, no matter how hard she tried to stop it, visions of what happened the night before came into her mind. _I'm not that girl anymore either Rachel._

**The song Rachel sings is I'm Not That Girl from Wicked. Thanks for the reviews! ~booknerd1998**


	4. Chapter 4

The rest of the week drifted by in a haze. Nobody really said anything to her so when it was time for her last class on Friday, she felt relived. She took her seat in the back of the room, but today someone sat next to her.

"Hello, Quinn!" Rachel said as if they were friends.

"Hi, Rachel," She responded reluctantly. She usually sat alone or near people who wouldn't dare talk to her, so it was strange to talk to someone before class. Quinn had gotten used to the isolation she put herself through and it seemed like no one cared enough to think about her.

Berry was droning on about some boring topic, while Quinn pretended to listen. Thankfully, their teacher, Mrs. Okano, came in and started droning on about English, which shut Rachel up. Quinn only caught half of what the teacher was saying, so the bell came as a shock to her when it rang. Quinn tried to hurry toward the door, but Rachel caught up with her. She walked next to Quinn, but didn't say anything till they were out of the school doors.

"Are you okay?" she said worryingly.

"Yeah, of course I am." Rachel was not going to make her start a scene.

"You just seem kind of distant." Rachel had a searching look in her eyes now, as if she was trying to read Quinn's mind.

"I'm fine." I said. I erased all readable emotions from my face.

"I just want you to know that I'm here for you if you need anything." On that note Rachel walked away.

That night was horrible. Quinn's father was drunk and brought all his rage out on her. There were gashes all over her body, bruises on top of bruises, and the worst was the words he said. Each abrasion was for one time she had let him down, even in things she couldn't control like how when she was in third grade her soccer team lost a tournament.

Each cut got deeper and each bruise hurt more with the words of he said as he marked her. He hurt her physically and emotionally. After two hours, he passed out from alcohol, and she took it as a golden opportunity to leave. She didn't bother putting more makeup on or changing her clothes, she was to hurt to try and do those things.

She threw her things in her bags and got in her car. She drove for hours not knowing where to go. She didn't want anyone to see her like this. Everyone was so used to seeing her look fabulous that the mere thought of people seeing her in this state made her skin crawl. _I'm such a horrible person, _she though, _my biggest concern right now is people not liking how I look. _She thought about Puck and Mercedesbut she had already intruded on their houses.She debated going to Finn's house but remembered he lived with Kurt now, and as much as she loved Kurt, he loved good gossip. Finn was also desperately in love with Rachel. Quinn remembered how Rachel had confronted her earlier. _"I just want you to know that I'm here for you if you need anything."_ She had said. Quinn new where she had to go.

As Quinn pulled up to Rachel's house she was hesitant as she got out of her car. _What if Rachel hadn't meant it this way_, _what if she was just trying to get Quinn to tell her if something was wrong and not ask for a place to stay?_ All the thoughts going through Quinn's head sounded like that as she approached the door. She realized tears were streaming down her face as she reached for the doorbell. Rachel opened the door almost immediately.

"Quinn, what happened to you?" Rachel asked. Quinn threw herself into Rachel's arms.

"I'm so sorry to intrude, but I don't have anywhere else to go." She sobbed.


	5. Chapter 5

At school on Monday, Quinn had a song to sing in glee club. She had been talking to Rachel over the weekend and Rachel told her that what was happening to her now was something she could sing about and fit into their glee club assignment. She had spent all of Saturday finding the song and all of Sunday rehearsing it.

At the end of the day, right after the bell rang; Quinn rushed to her locker to grab her stuff. She had a change of clothes for the song, and she was going to wipe off all the makeup she had been hiding under.

She couldn't remember ever being more nervous in her life, but ,deep down, she knew that telling someone was the best decision she ever made. Rachel was a really good listener and surprisingly good friend. Finn had called her on Saturday and asked her if she wanted to do something with him that evening, but she turned him down, telling him she had other obligations. Those obligations were talking Quinn through her rage and making sure she was okay with singing about it to the glee club.

As Quinn stood on the dark stage in the auditorium, she ran through everything in her mind again. The lights were off now but would turn on during the song. She was wearing shorts that barely went to her mid-thigh and tank top that was rolled up so you could see her stomach.

The club walked in and Mr. Schuester announced that Quinn was going to perform and with that the music started.

_You were just a boy,_

_With an appetite_

_Hate it when you leave stains in my bed_

_Knew I should've read_

_All the warning signs_

_But I fell for all your white lies again_

_Nothing you do_

_No, nothing you say_

_Is gonna take the damage away_

_Oh, nothing you do _

_No, nothing you say_

_Is gonna take the bruises away_

The lights came on when she sang out the word bruises and the whole club gasped. The signs of her abuse were visual and obviously real. The club wanted to know how someone they saw everyday and was their friend could be so hurt with none of them noticing. Quinn resumed singing.

_You've bit, bit, bitten off_

_You've bit, bit, bit, bitten off_

_More than you can chew_

_I'm, I'm getting rid of you_

_I'm get, get, get, getting rid of_

_Get, get, get, getting rid of_

_Traces of, traces the traces_

_The traces of you_

_I was just a girl_

_In the fantasy_

_Dreaming that you would be good for me_

_But now I see your greed_

_Now that I bleed _

_This time I'm gonna go set you free_

_Nothing you do_

_No, nothing you say_

_Is gonna take the damage away_

_Oh, nothing you do_

_No, nothing you say_

_Is gonna take the bruises away_

_You've bit, bit, bitten off _

_You've bit, bit, bit, bitten off_

_More than you can chew_

_I'm getting rid of you_

_I'm get, get, get, getting rid of_

_Get, get, get, getting rid of _

_Traces of, traces the traces_

_The traces of you_

_Ate my heart in every way_

_Locked in the cage_

_Staring at you straight_

_Can't get your way today_

_You've bit, bit, bitten off_

_You've bit, bit, bit, bitten off_

_More than you can chew_

_I'm getting rid of you_

_I'm get, get, get, getting rid of_

_Traces of, traces the traces_

_The traces of –_

_Get, get, get, getting rid of_

_Get, get, get, getting rid of_

_Traces of, traces the traces_

_The traces of –_

_Get, get, get, getting rid of_

_Get, get, get, getting rid of_

_Traces of, traces the traces_

_The traces of –_

_Get, get, get, getting rid of_

_Get, get, get, getting rid of_

_Traces of, traces the traces_

_The traces of you_

There, it was done. Quinn had never felt better in her life.

**Hey, guys! Sorry it took so long to get another chapter up, but I hope you liked this one and there will (hopefully) be another chapter up soon. The song that Quinn sings is Traces by Sky Ferreira, and, yes, the chorus _does _repeat that many times at the end. I really hope you liked this chapter and thanks for the reviews! ~ booknerd1998**


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